<img src="https://assets.podomatic.net/ts/35/10/57/lighthouseinstitute313/3000x3000_12095868.jpg" alt="itunes pic" /><br />Islam presents itself as an eternal, universal, and everlasting way of life that provides guidance for everything we experience in life. But the ephemeral nature of the dunya in which we live involves contradictions, tensions, and paradoxes—both in the world of nature and in human society. This creates a challenging dynamic for the religious individual, who has to find a way to balance a world full of contradictions with his or her Islamic understanding.